


Sleeping With a Friend

by justbygrace



Series: Inspired by Songs [1]
Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, F/M, Rated for scenes of a non-explicit sexual nature, vaguely nsfw
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-03
Updated: 2014-05-03
Packaged: 2018-01-21 19:30:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,323
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1561478
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/justbygrace/pseuds/justbygrace
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Title & inspiration from the Neon Trees song by the same name.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sleeping With a Friend

It started out completely casual. It was Halloween and they were drunkenly escorting each other back to campus sometime after midnight, leaning on each other and belting out the lyrics to 'Somebody Told Me' for reasons no one but themselves knew. Their dorm rooms were around the corner from each other, but when they got to Rose's door, she grabbed the lapels of his jacket and dragged him inside. Once the door was shut, it was all groping hands and heavy kisses and then John's trousers were on the ground and so was Rose's shirt and they landed on the bed by some miracle of nature and John blessed his genes because the copious amounts of alcohol in his system was doing nothing to inhibit his erection and Rose was singing out encouragements and then it was all thrusts and "please, Rose" and "oh god yes, right there" and they were both coming hard enough to see stars. 

When they woke up the next morning, they were not terribly surprised to discover what had happened, and while they sorted out where on earth their clothes had gotten to, they shrugged and agreed it was fun. They were both determined this little dalliance wasn't going to change their close friendship at all, but it probably shouldn't happen again. After all, Rose had her eye on that hot American transfer student and John was focused on his degree and planning to move to France following graduation. 

It did, however, happen again. Several times. Once when Rose discovered that Jack (the hot American transfer student) was shagging half of the student body - and part of the faculty also - and once as a celebration when John received his acceptance letter into the top medical school in Paris and once after too many shots of tequila and once when it had been a rough week of school and they were marathoning Star Trek and once when - well, long story short, eventually they accepted that they were sexually compatible and very, very good at fucking and why mess with a good thing? It became a habit, a way to release stress, and a regularly scheduled event. They were not, however, a couple - on that point they were very determined. 

The night of graduation they ended up in John's dorm room with less intent than they had used in months now. They weren't in the habit of questioning their motivations and so they didn't - choosing to ignore the fact that John's family was in town and that all of their friends wanted to hang out and celebrate - burying themselves in each other. If they were a little emotional, it was easy to transfer that to passion - Rose's nails left scratches all down John's back and Rose was going to have to resort to scarves for a while to hide the marks on her neck. Afterwards, when John made to shift her away from him so they could get on with their evening, Rose tightened her grip and they stayed where they were for a moment longer, still joined together until he slipped from her naturally. He didn't question her and she didn't offer an explanation, instead he pulled her into his arms and for the first time since Halloween they slept the night together.

John's flight left two days later and Rose spent the summer wandering around her old neighborhood wondering why on earth she hated it so very much. They texted each other at every opportunity, sharing details of their lives (his far more interesting than hers), and one Friday night they discovered that alcohol plus text messaging led to panting down the phone line, whispering instructions and encouragements, and though their own hands were not as interesting or as fulfilling as each other's, it was the best they had. That, too, became a regular event: after a stressful day, when John ordered pears by accident in a restaurant, during Rose's first night back on campus, to celebrate, to commiserate, to hear the sound of the other person's voice. 

Eventually, time and distance and the spotty cellular service of Paris to London took their toll and the phone calls became less and less frequent. Rose was heading into her final semester, studying hard with very little time to do much else, and John was, well, John was discovering French culture and food and women and if he felt a wave of guilt when he buried his feelings (and himself) in some blonde stranger or other, well, he was damned lucky how much alcohol there was to be had. By the time Rose graduated with honors, they hardly spoke anymore. If John went out and got spectacularly drunk that afternoon and ended up alone in his room with his hand and a stack of less-than-satisfactory magazines, well, he had only himself to blame and he knew it.

Upon graduation, Rose promptly accepted a teaching position in America (and the fact that it was quite a bit farther away from Paris than London was a thought she hardly acknowledged) and threw herself into her work, enjoying the weekends where she took full advantage of being British in American bars. She heard about how John was doing via Jack (who had turned out to be a good friend to both of them - though never as good of a friend as he wished to be) and if she spent drunken late nights scrolling through his Facebook pictures that all seemed to feature him and random French chicks, well, that was her business and no one but her cat saw her. She started a few attempts at communication, but always deleted them before she sent them.

When they both received invitations to Jack Harkness' wedding (an event which caused quite a few betting souls to lose money), tickets were bought, itineraries were set, and neither of them realized the other would be there until Rose walked into the hotel lobby and bumped into John just exiting the bar area. Their reunion was awkward and emotional and neither of them seemed to know quite what to say. John bought her a drink and they talked and drank until too late, at which point their stumbling footsteps led them quite by accident to John's hotel room. It was a night oddly reminiscent of the first time: fumbling hands and ripped seams and needy noises. The alcohol did nothing to dampen their arousal, though they both blamed it for their earlier-than-usual release. The morning after, however, was incredibly awkward and they dressed and Rose headed for her own room in silence.

The wedding itself was even more uncomfortable, and being seated at the same table was their own private version of hell. They both escaped to the dance floor at the first opportunity: John to dance with all of the bridesmaids and Rose with the groomsmen, throwing themselves into the festivities with seeming abandon. Their dance partners were on the receiving end of the passion and had no complaints, but both of them returned to their hotel rooms alone to make do with pay-per-view and memories.

John slept badly, and when he found his way to Rose's door at six am he had no idea what he was going to say. It was only after she opened the door, half dressed, with signs of having cried herself to sleep, that the world fell into place. Hardly hesitating, he pulled her into his arms, kissing her with all of the emotion he had never been able to make sense of before. She responded enthusiastically at first, and then pushed him away, telling him in no uncertain terms that this wasn't how it was going to be anymore. He smiled, a gentle thing that was completely different from his usual manic grin, and grabbed her hand, agreeing wholeheartedly and asking if maybe she wanted to get coffee today and tomorrow and for the rest of their lives? (She agreed.)


End file.
